July 15

THE VERSE

Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.
~Psalm 30:5

THE THOUGHT

It is a true and precious promise that joy comes after the night of weeping, but have you ever stopped to consider the relationship between joy and sorrow? In God’s mind, the two are very much connected. In fact, God often uses the night of weeping to produce the morning of joy in our souls. If it were not for the suffering that God brings into our lives from time to time, we would never be wooed away from our suicidal love for this world. The only way for us to experience true gladness is to break away from the world and find our true satisfaction in God. Charles Spurgeon wisely wrote, “All sunshine and nothing else makes a desert. If we had nothing but prosperity we should be burnt up with worldliness.”

The Bible’s command to rejoice in suffering, then, should not come as a surprise. Yes, there is godly sorrow and brokenness. Yes, there is great loss. But the fruit of the Spirit is joy, and He often works best in the broken soil of our sorrow to grow the deepest joy in us.

THE PRAYER

Dear God, Give me faith to trust Your sovereign hand, and Your kindness that carries me through suffering. Holy Spirit, I want to honor You by producing a harvest of great joy; therefore I welcome whatever you must do to make the soil of my heart fruitful. Help me to honor You in prosperity and loss, in weeping and joy, and in gladness and sorrow. You are my God; I will trust You.

EXTENDED READING

Psalm 30:1-12
Romans 5:3-5
1 Peter 1:6-7

THE QUOTE

“In the moment of the cross, it becomes clear that evil is utterly subverted for good...If God can take the greatest of evils and turn them for the greatest of goods, then how much more can he take the lesser evils which litter human history, from individual tragedies to international disasters, and turn them to his good purpose as well.” ~Carl Trueman

THROUGH THE BIBLE IN A YEAR

2 Chronicles 6-7
Psalm 140
Luke 10:25-37
1 Thessalonians 4:1-10